Interview with newly appointed UIC Dean Park Hyungji What does UIC mean to you on a personal note? How do you feel about UIC? I’m unbelievably excited to have become the new dean of UIC(Underwood International College). It’s absolutely thrilling because I was involved in the inception of UIC from the beginning. I was there to put together with other people the original mission, the vision and the curriculum of UIC. I also helped appoint some of the first faculty members. I was there from the beginning and in some ways I am a true believer in UIC. I really believe in a place like Underwood International College as the future of Korean higher education. I’ve come to be more of a believer as I meet the students. It’s interesting to me because when we first created UIC, it was an idea, all theoretical and structural. The most remarkable thing was when we had the first entering class of students. They were some of the best students that I’ve ever had and that has remained with me. For whatever reason, whether it’s their background or having chosen a place like UIC in the first place, they tend to be intellectually engaged and take a proactive role in their education. I’ve come to see the kind of students that come, the kind of graduates they produce, the kind of education UIC fosters or nurtures. There’s really a tremendous place that needs a lot of nurturing and investment for the future. What are some of the challenges for UIC? UIC also faces serious questions of expansion and evolution in the next two or three years. We’re going to have an Asian Studies program and I’m happy that we’re also going to have a Technological program. It will be a challenge to make these programs contribute to the development of UIC as a larger college with its traditional Underwood division and these two new divisions, but I hope that it will make us stronger and not just a bigger place. I really want to make sure that UIC is fulfilling its educational promise. There are things that can be done as a small-scale college that become harder when it becomes bigger. The challenge will be that it will take place over two campuses, the Asian Studies program and the Technological Art program will take place entirely within UIC for all four years (without any shared Yonsei-UIC courses). It will also be a challenge for those students to interact with other students when they’re across campuses and majors. Those are questions that we will face as UIC gets bigger. It may open up more opportunities and make offerings to attract international students and make us more diverse, but there will be growing pains. What are your plans for UIC? My own mission during my time as UIC dean is to make sure that we’re meeting all the educational objectives that we promise. We promise an education that’s unrivalled in the world that really teaches our students to think, write and be creative. I want to make sure that we’re fulfilling all those things and preparing students in the ways that we say we are. I also want make sure that UIC maintains and thrives in its position as the leader by far in international colleges in Korea. Park Hyungji is Dean of Underwood International College and Professor of English Literature in the Department of the English Language and Literature, Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. Dean Park has served as an administrator in many capacities at Yonsei University. In 2004, she chaired the Curriculum Committee of the UIC Preparatory Team, and shaped the mission, educational goals, and curriculum for Underwood International College, as well as serving as the first Common Curriculum chair and Associate Dean in 2005-2006. During her years at University College (2007-2011), she restructured the Freshman English program, instituted a complete re-envisioning of the General Education curriculum, and was the chief architect of the educational program for Yonsei's International Campus . Dean Park is currently the Vice President of the Feminist Studies in English Literature Association of Korea and is on the Advisory Board for the Journal of Transnational American Studies.